In strander-twisters for stranding armor wire about a central cable core, the wires are generally stored on bobbins and are then guided via a rotary distribution grid prior to being brought together by a die around the central core which is moving longitudinally.
In such prior strander-twisters, the distribution grid turns uniformly to lay the wire helically around the central core, and if the stranding operation is interrupted and the strander is stopped, the inertia of the rotary plate continues to turn the grid after the cable has stopped, since the inertia of the cable drive mechanism is less than that of the plate. There is thus a portion of excessive twisting about the core, in which the armor wires tend to crush the core, and this can be damaging, particularly in optical fiber cables. The excessive twisting is naturally untwisted when the strander restarts, but permanent damage may already have been done.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention ensure that the distributer grid and the cable core come to rest simultaneously, thereby avoiding excessive twisting.